Given the current state of the political climate, one could say that the red, white and blue are leaning right now. But American heritage and craftsmanship is what designer Spencer Phipps has built his brand on since its launch in 2018. He’s finding new ways to revive American staples, like jeans and workwear jackets. This season Pips wanted to continue telling that story — and in a way that didn’t ignore the complexities of dressing for life in America at the time. “As I was putting the look together, I realized there was a narrative.” “We started with a very happy, nostalgic, and childish way of dressing — and then got darker, weirder, and maybe even a little bit more criminal.”
His vision of the modern American man—because character dressing is what Phipps does best. There were obvious attempts to eliminate classic American wardrobe pieces, almost as a way of challenging the definition of what it means to be American today. . “The American Dream is about the human desire to pursue a better life and the human desire to live out our personal freedoms and truth.”
The result was a nod to America but with a twist. His relaxed flannel shirts featured kilter details like off-cycled yokes and studded piping. He also made Western-style chaps but covered them in dramatic Mongolian yak fur. The look was hyper-masculine, but the finer details were lacking. More wearable items would certainly be best sellers: Phipps produced cotton rugby shirts with stars and stripes and workwear pants with large cargo pockets. His cowboy-cut jeans and so-called chip jeans were cool, subtle nods to Western style. As always, there were some vintage tees in the mix, including a style that said “Something special from Wisconsin!” was read. He showed his obsession with throwing. “I’ve been buying vintage since I had money to buy clothes,” she said.
The outer garment was particularly strong. There were cool suede and knit zip-ups and a vintage red knit sweater with a hunting jacket silhouette. He even branded a vintage mustard shearling jacket with his logo. The most interesting development: a tailoring project, which has a small version of the suit blazer. A charcoal blazer with a vintage blanket yoke had a real 1970s feel. “It’s a new direction for us,” Phipps said. “Pre-Covid, we used to make really good suits in Italy. Now I love a suit with a story. We’ve got a little bit of a badass dad’s soul.” It seemed like the kind of treasured find you’d stumble upon in a dusty second-hand store in LA or Santa Fe, and this was especially the case.
